Visualizing Symptoms

November15

Appearances can be deceiving with a chronic illness.  Looking at a person you usually can’t even begin to see what they are going through.  Sometimes even your doctor can’t see what’s right in front of them.  Sometimes you have to spell it out for them.  Especially when you have a lot of symptoms and medical problems, I’ve found it extremely helpful to bring your doctor a printed list summarizing your medical history and list of symptoms broken down by category.

This serves another purpose as well.  When you have an unexpected and most unwelcome flare of autoimmune pancreatitis pain, you can distract yourself by making it into art while you wait for your pain meds to kick in!

Symptom Cloud: Hospitalizations Surgeries Appendectomy Cholecystectomy Hospitalized Hospitalized Hospitalized Hospitalized pain pain pain pain autoimmmune Sjogren’s Syndrome Dry eyes, mouth, skin Asthma Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Raynauds Low grade fever Extreme fatigue Extremely low tolerance for exercise Erythomyalgia IGA deficiency History of anemia Severe allergies and anaphylaxis Heat and cold intolerance Hair loss Eyelid swelling Ankle swelling Hoarseness, coughing, and wheezing Sleep Apnea Gastrointestinal Pain when swallowing and esophagus spasms Delayed gastric emptying GERD Motility problems Bile backup Nausea Vomiting Autoimmune Pancreatitis Autoimmune Hepatitis Difficulty digesting food Severe stomach pain Feeding tube required at times of Pancreatitis flares Loss of appetite Muscular/Skeletal Osteopenia Costochondritis Soft tissue pain Swollen and painful joints requiring use of wheelchair Bulging disk in lower back Range of motion limited in arms and fingers Involuntary muscle spasms, movements, and cramps Muscle weakness Trouble walking, standing, sitting, dressing, personal hygiene Fibromyalgia Neurological/Autonomic Migraines Dizziness Seizures Tremors Balance problems Involuntary Muscle movements Random episodes of high heart rate Difficulty urinating Difficulty Swallowing Motility problems Abnormally large pupils Episodes of excessive sweating Episodes of loss of muscular control of face, mouth, and tongue Episodes of uncontrollable eyelid fluttering with eyes rolling back into head Numbness on thigh with severe pain and burning underneath Typing one word while trying to type a different word Concentration and memory problems Abnormal EEG Psychological Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Attention Deficit Disorder Severe anxiety Severe depression Self harm Sleep disorder Nightmares Urinary Chronic urinary tract and kidney infections Bladder Stimulator Implant

Head over to Wordle to try it out for yourself (and feel free to link me in the comments).

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posted under Awareness, Chronic Illness, Doctors, Medication, Symptoms
One Comment to

“Visualizing Symptoms”

  1. On November 25th, 2009 at 11:37 pm Jeanne Says:

    Lauren,

    Thinking of you!

    Jeanne

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